Current Western Kentucky University director of basketball operations and former Hilltopper basketball standout Anthony Winchester will leave WKU to take a high school head coaching job at Scottsburg High School in Scottsburg, Ind., WKU head coach Ken McDonald announced Tuesday.
Scottsburg High School is a member of the same Mid-Southern Conference as Austin High School, where Winchester played from 1999-2002 and is the all-time leading scorer. Winchester was a three-time all-state performer at Austin High School and runner-up for Indiana’s Mr. Basketball award. “I’m very excited for the opportunity to be coaching high school basketball in Indiana and to get back closer to home,” Winchester said. “It’s going to be a challenge, but I think it’s going to be a lot of fun at the same time. “It’s bittersweet to be leaving Western Kentucky University and Hilltopper nation, which has become a home away from home for me. Coach McDonald has been great to me. He recruited me, I played for him, and he gave me the opportunity to be on his staff for the last two years. I can’t thank him and the entire coaching staff enough for the impact they’ve had on me.” “As a coach, the rewarding part of our job is to watch players grow,” McDonald said. “It’s amazing to see how far Anthony Winchester has advanced in every way from the point when we recruited him as a player to where he is now as an up-and-coming coach. It has always been a goal of Anthony’s to become a high school coach, and he’s put himself in position professionally to attain that goal. We are very proud of him, and we wish him nothing but the best in the future. It’s great to have him in the Hilltopper family.” Winchester spent the last two years on McDonald’s coaching staff at WKU, first as a graduate assistant coach for the 2008-09 season and most recently as the director of basketball operations for the 2009-10 season. Winchester starred as a player at WKU from 2003-06, earning the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year award in 2006 and finishing his career eighth on WKU’s all-time scoring list with 1,732 points. He averaged 14.1 points per game in his Hilltopper career and is WKU’s all-time leader in three-point field goals (247).